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Anti-Semitism and Anti-Zionism in Iran: the Role of Identity Processes

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Anti-Semitism and Anti-Zionism in Iran: the Role of Identity Processes View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Nottingham Trent Institutional Repository (IRep) 1 Anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism in Iran: the role of identity processes Rusi Jaspal De Montfort University, Leicester, UK Anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism constitute two important ideological building blocks of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Yet, there is no existing research into the psychosocial motives underlying the manifestation of anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism at the institutional level in Iran. Here it is argued that there is much heuristic and predictive value in applying tenets of identity process theory (IPT), a socio-psychological model of identity threat and action, to the primarily socio-historical literature on anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism in Iran. The paper provides a summary of anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism and ‘new anti-Semitism’ and IPT. The substantive section of the paper explores (i) how anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism may restore feelings of belonging in the Muslim world and beyond; (ii) the inter-relations between ingroup and outgroup self-efficacy; (iii) the psychosocial motivation to maintain Shiite ideology and Khomeini’s legacy; and (iv) the construction of Jews and Israel in terms of a threat to group continuity. It is suggested that insights into the motivational principles underlying anti-Semitism and anti- Zionism at the institutional level may inform empirical research into social representations of Jews and Israel in Iran. More broadly, this paper highlights the potential contribution of social psychology to existing work on anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism in the humanities. Keywords anti-Semitism; anti-Zionism; Iran; Israel; Jews; identity process theory; social representations; social psychology Correspondence Dr Rusi Jaspal, Division of Psychology, School of Applied Social Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, De Montfort University, Leicester LE1-9BH, United Kingdom. E-mail: [email protected] 2 Anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism in Iran: the role of identity processes Rusi Jaspal De Montfort University, Leicester, UK Anti-Semitism is a peculiar socio-psychological phenomenon. It is often subsumed under general psychosocial phenomena such as ‘prejudice’, ‘discrimination’ or ‘racism’ and there is little agreement in the literature regarding the most accurate way of defining it.1 Although there is some overlap between these constructs, anti-Semitism is a unique and highly complex phenomenon in its own right. Anti-Zionism is a similarly broad construct. It can refer to opposition to Jewish nationhood and/ or the rejection of ideologies underlying the State of Israel.2 Anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism constitute two important ideological building blocks of the Islamic Republic of Iran, with important real-world consequences for its citizens and the broader Middle East region. While these constructs are conceptually delineable, there is evidence to suggest that they are inextricably entwined in social representations encouraged and disseminated by the Islamic regime in Iran. This highlights the possibility that anti-Semitism is increasingly manifested through the more ‘socially acceptable’ anti-Zionist route.3 Through the interpretive lens of socio-psychological theorising on identity processes, the present paper explores the motivational principles of identity underlying anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism in the specific national context of Iran. Anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism In its broadest sense, anti-Semitism refers to prejudice and hostility towards Jews on the basis of their ethno-cultural and/ or religious group membership. More specifically, anti-Semitic doctrine attributes to the Jews an exceptional position in the broader social matrix, dehumanises them as an inferior group and generally excludes them from dominant society.4 There has been little temporal or cross-cultural consistency in anti-Semitism; negative stereotypes of Jews have mutated radically in accordance with temporal and socio-cultural context. For instance, while Nazi Germany and the Argentinean dictatorship accused the Jews of siding with socialists and communists, the Soviet Union persecuted the Jews for their alleged sympathies with the capitalist West.5 Anti-Semitism has a history of several millennia and can plausibly be thought of as one of the most enduring forms of prejudice against any single group. Indeed, Jewish history is fraught with acts of persecution. The Jewish people were exiled from their homeland of Judah during the rule of the Babylonian Empire. Moreover, the Jewish exile that followed the Roman Occupation in the 1st Century AD gave rise to a Jewish Diaspora all over the world.6 In their new host countries in the Christian world, Jews were accused of deicide (the killing of Christ) and the ritualistic murders of Gentiles. These charges were frequently invoked as a justification for the exclusion and persecution of the Jews.7 The historical charge of deicide, coupled with the attribution of localised social ills to the Jews, culminated in their eventual expulsion from several European countries: England in 1290; from Spain in 1492; and from Portugal in 1497. Since then, Anti-Semitism was consistently manifested in a variety of media. For centuries, Jews have been demonised in the visual arts, in Modern European thought, in Muslim thought, and in contemporary European culture.8 E-mail: [email protected] 3 Undoubtedly, the most devastating and historically salient act of anti-Semitism by any single group was the Holocaust, which was perpetrated by the Nazis and their collaborators from the early 1940s until 1945.9 During this time, at least six million Jews were murdered, which devastated the European Ashkenazi Jewish community. In many cases, the Holocaust has become a metaphor for Jewish history.10 Paradoxically, the most destructive act of persecution against the Jews is often employed by anti-Semites in order to further demonise the Jews. Holocaust denial may legitimately be regarded as a form of anti-Semitism, since this ‘distorts and denies Jewish history and deprives the Jews of their human dignity by presenting their worst tragedy as a scam’, while charging ‘the Jews with unscrupulous machinations in order to achieve illegitimate and immoral goals, mainly financial extortion’.11 ‘New anti-Semitism’ constitutes a newer version of Jew-hatred, which is habitually manifested in the guise of anti-Zionism. In Europe this is associated largely with ‘leftists, vociferously opposed to the policies of Israel, and right-wing antisemites, committed to the destruction of Israel, [who] were joined by millions of Muslims, including Arabs, who immigrated to Europe […] and who brought with them their hatred of Israel in particular and of Jews in general.’12 However, this amalgamation of anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism is most conspicuous in the Middle East, given the recent history of intergroup relations between Jews and Muslims. In the early days of Jewish settlement in Palestine, violent confrontations broke out between Zionist Jews and Arabs regarding Jewish rights to settle in the land.13 Moreover, multiple recurring conflicts have arisen between Israel and the neighbouring Arab nations regarding the legitimacy of the State of Israel. This has given rise to an antagonistic psychological intergroup repertoire between Jews and Arabs in the Middle East.14 Accordingly, anti-Semitic diatribes in the form of theological allusions to Jews as ‘pigs’ and ‘apes’ are frequent in the mass media in the Arab and Muslim world. These negative comments tend to be grounded in several, arguably misunderstood, Koranic verses and other Islamic theological sources such as ‘Ahadith’.15 Many Arab and Muslim politicians attempt to highlight their opposition to the state of Israel rather than to Jews as a religious group, which is supported to evidence their ‘differentiation’ between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism. However, scholars have argued that the two social phenomena may in fact be highly inter-related in the political rhetoric of Arab and Muslim leaders.16 Speakers frequently employ the categories ‘Jew’ and ‘Zionist’ more or less interchangeably, suggesting an underlying prejudice towards Jews.17 The effects of both anti- Semitic and anti-Zionist social representations, at the institutional level, for meaning-making in the general population in Arab and Muslim societies are difficult to ascertain, particularly in the absence of any conclusive quantitative data regarding the extent and acceptance of anti-Jewish representations. However, an opinion poll in Jordan, which incidentally maintains diplomatic ties with the Jewish state, reveals that 99 per cent of respondents hold unfavourable opinions about Jews.18 Thus, it is reasonable to predict that in those nations, in which anti-Semitic imagery is commonplace and encouraged by the national institutions, endorsement of anti-Semitic prejudice will be high. New anti-Semitism in Iran Unlike most other countries in the Middle East, the Islamic Republic of Iran openly endorses anti-Semitism, which it incorporates within its anti-Zionist program. In fact it has been argued that ‘no other regime in the world is as anti-Semitic as that of the Mullahs in Tehran’.19 The origins of Iranian anti-Semitism lie in the installation of Islam as the state religion in Iran in the 4 7th Century AD, which resulted in the ‘inferiorisation’ of the socio-political status of Jews in Iran.20 Jews were segregated, forced to pay poll tax and pervasively regarded as inferior to the Muslim majority, as exemplified by their ‘Dhimmi’ status. The arrival of the Safavid dynasty in Iran in the 16th century AD further aggravated Muslim-Jewish relations. Modern anti-Semitism in Iran can be linked to Shiite ideology, which reflects institutionalised processes of social influence and the collective attempt to achieve and maintain a ‘shared reality’ and world-view.21 Indeed, Shiite Islam has a long history of radical anti-Semitism. Even until the nineteenth century, there were harsh social restrictions on Iranian Jews, who were, at best, regarded as second class citizens. Moreover, they were subjected to pogroms and forced conversions to Shiite Islam.
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